Psychology 12: Introduction to African American Psychology
S/R Paper for February 22,
2007
By
Halford H. Fairchild
La
Francis Rodgers-Rose – Filmed Lecture
Stimulus: Dr. Rodgers-Rose focused on what it means to
be a Black student in White academia.
She began by singing the praises of the ancestors who sacrificed for
their children and for future generations.
She
suggested that the early education of Black children should be by Blacks – to
provide them with early armamentum against the racist
onslaught of public education.
She
mentioned Mary McLeod Bethune and Carter G. Woodson, the latter who wrote about
the control of the mind of the oppressed.
She
noted the negative attitudes and expectations in White academia, for example,
the President of Rutgers who suggested that Blacks are underachievers who bring
down the quality of the university.
She
noted the publication of the Bell Curve (1994).
School
desegregation was bad because it led to the closing of Black schools.
White
teachers expect failure….and get it.
Were
Blacks better off in segregated schools?
Blacks
are in cultural conflict in White schools, due to different value structures:
·
No such thing as bad culture – culture is what people do.
·
Sense of community
·
Improvisation (verve) – music, dance, religion
·
Affective humanism (expressiveness)
Vs.
Western cultural values:
·
Effort optimism (try hard and succeed)
·
Conformity (keeping up with the Jones)
·
Materialism
·
Youth oriented
HBCU’s – educate the fewest, but graduate the most.
She
recommends the movie, Higher Learning.
Guidelines
to students: (1) do not declare a major
your first year; (2) understand that white academia is a “feel-good” culture –
for Whites; (3) George GM James – Stolen Legacy; (4) don’t challenge
professors; (5) don’t be the spokesperson for all Blacks; (6) make Black
faculty accountable and responsible; (7)
Reminder of
Responses: Her call for an early Black education is
reminiscent of John Churchhill’s storefront school in
Invoking
Carter G. Woodson reminds one of the quote by Steve Biko: The most potent
weapon of the oppressor, is the mind of the oppressed.”
One
can be racist with genetic or cultural explanations.
Effort
optimism & social Darwinism
White
academia as a revolving door – how is this a problem in
Fairchild,
H.H., & Tucker, M.B. (1982). Black residential
mobility: Trends and
characteristics. Journal of Social Issues, 38(3), 51-74.
Stimulus: This article provides a transdisciplinary
review of the literature on Black residential mobility. An emphasis is on the external constraints to
freedom of choice. “Freedom” is
illusory.
Ghetto makers:
White flight; Public policy
Outcomes:
jobs, education, economies, crime and violence, health, social
pathologies.
Responses: The article is emblematic of Black psychology: trans-disciplinary with an historical
emphasis. It also shares an
international perspective.
The slave trade portion uses the word slave,
in-advisedly.
Emancipation Procrastination did a lot for African
Americans psychologically, or did it?
Internal colonization – and
multiple-parallel discriminations.
Even in the absence of discrimination, a “cultural
inertia” will result in the continuation of segregated living arrangements.
Black/Latino conflict is now being played out in the
jails.
Relative deprivation is increasing, despite some
improvement in the quality of housing and other indicators of well being for
Blacks.
Contact hypothesis:
equal status, common goal, interdependence, cooperation, sanction of
authority.
Housing audits lack external validity: only confederates put themselves in a
position where they will face discrimination.
Fairchild,
H.H. (1991). A sad tale of persecuted
minorities.
Stimulus: The article details conflicts between Korean
Americans and African Americans, with the killing of Natasha Harlins as a point of departure.
Responses: This article, like most by Fairchild, seeks solutions
to problems. These ay be vague, however
(e.g., eliminating racism, implementing equal opportunity, enhancing
cross-cultural sensitivity, resocialization to the
non-violent resolution of conflict, joint economic ventures, changing society
and its popular culture (stereotyping in entertainment media).
Fairchild,
H.H. (1993). Drip by drip, the indignities go
on.
Stimulus/Responses: This article debunks the idea the “riots” of
1992 were due to the Rodney King verdicts; instead, they were due to the
drip-by-drip accumulation of ethnic insults that result from structured
inequalities. “…those verdicts were only
the spark that lit the fuse of the powder keg that was ready to explode from
decades of abuse and neglect.” These
were: residential/geographical isolation
(facilitating unequal treatment), financial institutions (pawn shops), major
food stores (& cineplexes), over-crowded and underfunded schools).
Drip-by-dripà To
be Black and to be aware, is to be in a constant state of rage (James Baldwin).
Solutions:
multifaceted: reverse decades of
benign neglect (or malignant), schools, jobs, criminal injustices.
Fairchild,
H.H. (1992). Aren’t they really us? LA
Times, May 13, 1992, p. B7.
Stimulus: Examines reactions to the conflagrations in
1992.
Responses: Use of first person pronoun is informative.
Ogbu, John. – Black Families text
Stimulus: Explores why Black children don’t do well in
school. Describes Blacks as occupying a
caste-like position….
Class vs. Racial caste stratification
·
Closure and affiliation
·
Mobility
·
Cognitive orientation (victim vs. system blame)
·
See p. 84
Comparing minorities – some do well.
Responses: Should reframe the question: why do schools fail Black children?
Cites Jensen and Jencks uncritically….
Class exercise:
“Minorities are….”
Semantics of race:
who is a minority? Black or black?
See p. 85 for a couple of debate points…